Caretaker charged in theft from 69-year-old woman

A 37-year-old Tallahassee woman is facing more than 40 charges after sheriff's office investigators say she stole more than $8,071 from a 69-year-old woman she was acting as caretaker for.

The elderly woman reported she suspected her caretaker, Leah Harshbarger, was committing fraud and stealing money from her bank account, according to the Leon County Sheriff's Office.

Harshbarger is charged with 19 counts of submitting forged documents, 19 counts of forgery, exploitation of elderly, bank fraud, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft of between $5,000 and $10,000, criminal use of personal identification and deposit with the intent to defraud.

During their investigation, LCSO detectives determined Harshbarger had stolen 19 checks from the woman over the course of a month and was paying her Comcast and City of Tallahassee Utility bills through her bank account.

She forged the woman's signature and made the checks out to cash before cashing them at various SunTrust banks in Tallahassee.